Amilda Dymi

Barclays Capital reports that June commercial mortgage-backed securities conduit liquidations hit the new high of more than 450 deals worth nearly $1.9 billion, an increase that bodes well for special servicers of these portfolios.

Shortly after Cornerstone Residential Management company settled a class-action lawsuit claiming discrimination against families with minor children, the housing developer was hit by another lawsuit alleging it has violated Fair Housing Act protections for people with disabilities for decades.

Home remodeling contractors' survey finds recent federal regulation is causing "a significant increase in the cost" of remodeling projects nationwide.

Demand for free foreclosure-counseling grants continues to exceed by far the amounts of federal and other funds available, according to NeighborWorks America.

At least a couple of automated mortgage service providers see demand for household level profiling.Geoscape, a Miami-based provider of online geo-demographic information, analytics and research, has partnered with 40-year veteran of marketing data management, Acxiom, Little Rock, Ark., to enhance information about ethnically different borrowers.

A pair of automated service providers said Monday they are partnering to provide more granular household-level borrower data within ethnic demographics.

RealtyTrac findings showing in May foreclosure filings decreased 2% from April and 33% from May 2010 bringing the monthly foreclosure activity to its lowest level since November 2007 ultimately are not indicative of housing market improvements. At best, the status quo persists.

Recent operational risk downgrades of various mega-servicers of securitized residential mortgage loans by Fitch Ratings indicate the agency is staying true to its resolution to start a new era in mortgage banking evaluations. It appears to involve more frequent updates of rating criteria.

Housing affordability pressure combined with tightening rental housing markets “may begin to lead a modest recovery” in housing construction this year, according to the Joint Center for Housing Studies of Harvard University’s “State of the Nation’s Housing 2011” report.

Negative equity risk remains high. CoreLogic data show a slight decrease in the percentage of mortgages with negative equity is not significant once the negative effect of home equity extraction and sluggish economic recovery forecasts are factored in.

Monthly reports showing more stable loan modification performance patterns and new delinquency rates indicate the mortgage servicing market is becoming more predictable.Stable trends in recidivism, or redefaults on loan modifications, are “particularly” encouraging because they indicate long-term sustainability, according to Hope Now data from May 2010 to April 2011.

Uncertainties deriving from still unclear Dodd-Frank Act requirements on lender-placed insurance starting with disclosure forms have put mortgage insurers on the hot seat as they strive to provide services and get ready for further changes.

The country’s custodians of land property records endorse freely accessible information to the public at large.The Property Records Industry Association, Morrisville, N.C., has posted online the “Access to and Sales in Bulk of Land Records,” a whitepaper based on industry feedback and data gathering the coalition of government and business partners from the property records industry initially started in the spring of 2008—which concludes that land records are public records that should be freely accessible by the public.

Contractual conflicts of interest between investors and mortgage servicers regarding foreclosure sales may create a disincentive for servicers contemplating whether or not to provide lease-to-purchase options on vacant properties with securitized loans.

Borrower risk evaluation findings from untraditional data drilling and analytics sometimes surprise those who initiated the search indicating the existing data is a “gold mine” yet to be explored.That recognition is fueling a new trend among mortgage data providers.

Pre-disaster management counseling and training issues are high up on the agenda of the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

A private-government partnership fund could assist “underwater borrowers” and actively engage small-size banks in national efforts to speed up the housing market recovery, according to a mortgage market veteran.

By the end of the first quarter of 2011 the seasonally adjusted delinquency rate of all one-to-four unit residential property loans increased to 8.32%, up 7 basis points from the fourth quarter of 2010. Yet overall findings from the Mortgage Bankers Association’s National Delinquency Survey show improvements are taking hold.

Lender Processing Services, Inc. has launched the McDash Loan Data module, a new analytical tool designed “to provide an indication” of loan-to-value for residential housing nationwide.

Fitch warns that the joint effect of re-defaults, accounting changes and regulatory scrutiny will cause significant increases in troubled debt restructuring rates, especially non-residential debt.